What do you folks here think of your father, the Vigor? As you may now, the vigor name was changed to TL, so all the TL's are really variations of the Vigor. For those that dont know about this car, Acura's best kept secret, check out the Acura Vigor club on Yahoo.<br><br>gio

I had a Vigor for about 2 years - loved it, though felt it was pretty much a high-powered Accord. Similar size, handling, etc, and not much more in the way of luxury features. Though that 5 cylinder engine was a nice one - always liked the uneven thrum of a five.<br><br>My Vigor (had a 1993) couldn't hold a candle to the performance and luxury of my new TL. Not even close.

Let's be honest here... Before the 1999 TL, Acura sold expensive and under-powered cars. For example, the 1998 3.2TL was slow (0-60 in 8.8s) and had an MSRP of over $33k. The 1998 2.5TL's MSRP was $30.7k! They were expensive and lacked value. I was not an Acura fan at all, and Acura's crappy luxury sales (All Acura minus Integras) were consistent with my opinion.<br><br>Now, the TL, CL (and Type S), and MDX are undoubtedly the category killers in their respective categories -- there are very few compelling, objective reasons to buy anything but the TL, CL, and MDX in their respective classes. They are *very* aggressively priced and high-performing vehicles. I went to the Austin dealer this week and there is already a four month wait for the MDX, and that wait is increasing since the Motor Trend 2001 SUV of the year issue. <br><br>Acura has turned the corner and now offers compelling value. Whether it's too late to catch Lexus or not is another question. From a marketing point of view, Lexus has greater brand equity than Acura. As a marketing strategist, I would suggest that Acura look at moving the Integra line to Honda because they dilute Acura's brand equity for its luxury vehicles.<br><br>So the bottomline is that I think many/most of Acura's pre-1999 TL vehicles sucked.

If you are talking austin, TX. I would highly recommend you speak with Joe Belk at Gillman Acura in Houston.<br><br>I've been on the Austin lot at night before they've re-badged the auto they just got from Houston. Houston has better stock, more access to get the vehicle you want, etc.<br><br>In the end Gillman cut me a deal on a 2001 TL for $1500 better then Austin would on a 2000 TL. They tossed in splash guards, pin stripe and locking wheel nuts for free.